Response to Senate opposition to Roll-Call Voting (H3047)

By Talbert Black, Jr.  Interim State Coordinator, South Carolina Campaign for Liberty

This is a response to Senator McConnell and Senator Larry Martin.  The first few paragraphs are a brief response for those who are not interested in the details.  Following that is a more in depth response for those who like to dig a little deeper.

Senator McConnell and Senator Larry Martin have drawn their proverbial line in the sand.  They have declared, in writing, that they oppose H3047.  Their reasons can be boiled down to three items.

1. The Senate already has a rule requiring roll call votes on some items and the Senate does not need to record all their votes because the Senate is “more deliberative” than the House.
2. The South Carolina Constitution says that the Senate can make their own rules.
3. The South Carolina Constitution already says that the Senate must take a recorded roll call vote when 5 senators ask for one so any additional requirements would be unconstitutional.

These two Senators sound very convincing as they make their arguments.  However, rest assures that this is all smoke and mirrors from these two Senators.  All they want is for you to stop pressuring them to be transparent!   Read on!

Regarding the first item, the Senate does have rules requiring recorded roll call votes on certain items and under certain conditions.  The rules are pretty convoluted and it is hard to understand which votes should be recorded and which should not.   Still, they are passing significant laws anonymously.  In most cases, the rules have not required a roll call vote, in others, the rules have been ignored with no consequence.  On top of that, the Senate can vote to temporarily ignore the rules at any time.  They even have a name for it.  It is called “suspending the rules”.  A rule that can be ignored at will is no rule at all.

Next, the South Carolina Constitution does say that the Senate gets to make their own rules.  This law does not violate that provision of the constitution.  H3047 is a rule that is being made by the Senate.  No one else is making this rule for them.

Lastly, the South Carolina Constitution does say that a recorded roll call vote must be taken if 5 senators ask for one.  But it does not say that this is the only condition upon which a roll call must be taken.  If it did mean that, then Senate rule 16 must violate the SC Constitution as well, because it requires the Senate to take a recorded roll call vote for many other reasons than 5 Senators asking  for one.  In fact, Larry Martin is quite proud of the fact that he chaired the committee that created rule 16.   Neither rule 16 nor H3047 violates the constitution.

You can read Senate rule 16 by clicking here.  You will see that it has 11 additional requirements for when a roll call vote must be taken.  So why is Larry Martin so proud of these additional rules and at the same time saying that H3047 would violate the SC Constitution?  Larry Martin can’t have it both ways.  Either H3047 and Senate rule 16 are both unconstitutional or neither of them are.  Clearly, neither of them are.

So why isn’t Senate rule 16 good enough?  Why do we need 3047?  Several reasons.  First, lets be clear that the Senate needs to record their vote on EVERY NEW LAW THE PASS, whether they want to or not.  In fact, they need to record their vote especially when they don’t want to do so.  It is our right to know!  They are representing us.  We should know how they vote.  How else can we judge if they are representing us well when it comes time to choose who we will vote for in June and November?

So, the problem with a Senate rule is that the Senate can vote to suspend the rules.  In other words,  if the Senate decides they don’t want to follow a rule, all the need to do is agree to not follow it.  It is called “Suspending the Rules”.  It is outlined in Senate rule 43 which you can read by clicking here.  A rule that you can ignore is no rule at all.  It is simply a suggestion.  Remember, we need to know how they vote especially when they don’t want us to know.  That is why we need a law, not a rule.

Additionally, there is no consequence for ignoring a rule.  As long as no Senator makes a “point of order” that a rule is being ignored, nothing happens.  For example,  H3452 passed the Senate on a voice vote.  It is a bill regarding taxes for regulation of micro-distilleries.  This law increases license fees for manufacturers from $1,000 to $50,000; and also introduces a new biennial license fee of $5,000 for micro-distilleries.  Click here for the Senate journal for the day.

Item 7 of Senate rule 16 clearly says that a roll call vote must be taken for any law that raises, lowers, or creates a tax or fee.  This law creates a new fee and raises an existing fee.  Yet it passed on an anonymous voice vote.  Hmmm.  And Larry Martin and Glenn McConnell think the rules are good enough.  Do you?

The Senate needs to pass H3047 so that they will not be able to carelessly ignore the requirement to record their vote on every law they pass.  There will be no more confusion about which laws they need to take a roll call vote and which laws they don’t.  It will be quite simple.  Every new law gets a roll call vote before it is enacted.

Larry Martin also points out that the Senate does not normally vote on the budget section by section.  He uses this as a reason that they do not need H3047.  Huh?  I’m thinking that is a very good reason why they do need H3047.  We need to know how each Senator votes on each section of the budget.  Saying that because they don’t vote on the budget line by line is a reason they don’t need to have a rule that requires them to vote line by line is like me telling a police officer that pulls me over for speeding that he shouldn’t write me a ticket for doing 65 mph in a 55 mph zone because I always do 65 mph in a 55 mph zone.  The police officer wouldn’t buy it, and neither should we.

Somehow, Larry Martin and Glenn McConnell think that this law violates the SC Constitution because the Constitution says that the Senate gets to make its own rules.  That argument makes very little since because the Senate is making this rule.  H3047 will be voted on by the Senate, and if it passes, it will be their rule.  I don’t see how that violates the provision that the Senate gets to make its own rules.  McConnell and Martin are trying to wriggle out of the common sense notion that they need to record their votes on every new law they pass.  Plain and simple.

Regarding the SC Constitutional provision that the a roll call vote must be taken if 5 senators ask for it, nothing in this law violates that requirement.  A roll call vote can still be taken any time 5 senators ask for it.  Nothing in this law prevents that.  This law just provides additional times for which they must take a recorded roll call vote.  McConnell and Larry Martin are obviously just throwing up smoke and mirrors in order to divert pressure to get this bill passed.

As I said earlier, if this law is unconstitutional because it provides additional circumstances under which the Senate will be required to record their vote, then the whole of Senate rule 16, which Larry Martin is so proud of, is unconstitutional as well.  Larry Martin can’t have it both ways saying one is and one isn’t.  Either they both are, or they both aren’t.  Simply stated, rule 16 is completely constitutional and so is H3047.

We must continue to pressure them and our own Senators to get this bill to the floor of the Senate for an up or down vote  by whatever means possible.  We want it voted on without any amendments because any amendment will require the bill to go back to the House to be voted on again.  This can easily kill the bill.  We don’t want the ping pong game that we had with the Sovereignty Resolution where it bounced back and forth four or five times before both the House and Senate stopped amending it.  Amendments simple slow it down and likely will kill it.

Please continue to call and e-mail Glenn McConnell at (803) 212-6610 and SJU@scsenate.org and tell him you want him to do everything in his power to get this bill passed with no amendments!   Next, call your Senator and tell him you expect him to support H3047 with no amendments!  We want an up or down vote on the Senate floor without delay!  You can find your Senator and his contact information by clicking here and entering your zip code.

Let them both know that any vote that they cast that slows this bill down will be seen as a vote against the bill.  Whether it is a vote to amend, or a procedural vote that delays or prevents the bill from getting to the floor of the Senate it will be seen and published as a vote against transparency!  Don’t be diverted by their smoke and mirrors!

Getting this bill enacted as law is the foundation of everything else we will do.  This bill will give us the tools we need to hold our Senators and Representatives accountable for their votes.  This is the tool that will allow us to apply the pressure to get them to do  the right thing for every other law we want to get passed or repealed.  This will put them on the record!  It is a must have!

In one last feeble attempt to dismiss the bill, McConnell tries to cast doubt on the sincerity of the bill’s sponsor.  Although the sincerity of the bill’s sponsor really has nothing to do with the quality of a bill, I’d like to take a moment to defend the bill’s sponsor.

McConnell says is that Nikki Haley introduced this bill for the purpose of posturing or seeking headlines.  The only reason it is making headlines is because the Senate and House leadership have fought it at every turn.  Again, more smoke and mirrors.  Haley first filed a bill, H5019, requiring roll call votes way back on April 15, 2008.  Nearly two years ago.  You can see the bill by clicking here.

Just to put this in perspective, you should know that 2005 was her first year in the House and she was voted chairman of the Freshman class. Her second year she was voted majority whip.  Her third year she was put on the influential Labor, Commerce, and Industry Committee.  Her fourth year she was made the chair of powerful Banking subcommittee.  Does this sound like someone who needs to posture and grab headlines?  The best thing for her to do was to keep her head down and keep riding the system up to more and more power and influence.

Instead, she saw a problem with voice votes.  There was no accountability nor transparency.  So, she introduced H5019 near the end of her fourth year.  She was told by House leadership to let the bill die.  Instead, she strengthened it and reintroduced it as H3047 in the new legislative session of her fifth year.

House leadership stripped her of her influential committee assignments for not falling in line.  She would not bend and was demoted.  Does this sound like someone posturing and looking for headlines?  No, if she was interested in power and influence, she would have done exactly as House leadership instructed and stayed on the fast track to being able to manipulate and control the House through chairmanships and the good ole’ boy system.

Senator Larry Martin and Senator McConnell are simply trying to divert pressure to do the right thing.  What happens if we believe their excuses?  They get to continue to make their back room deals and swap votes without any real accountability.  This must stop!  How long can South Carolina afford a Republican lead House and Senate that will not record their vote on 100% of the laws they pass and on each section of the budget?